Spies of the Civil War Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of the most outstanding things of the Civil War was the St.Albans Raid in Vermont on October 19, 1864. The Confederate leader was Bennett Young, but under what Rebel partisan did he learn the tough art of raiding?

Answer: John Hunt Morgan

Young's raid achieved total surprise. The Rebels didn't loot the city, but they robbed the bank and were able to pass the Canadian border, saving their heads and a large amount of the money.

2. Lafayette Curry Baker was perhaps the best Union spy at the Civil War. For the purpose of spying, what false identity did he assume?

Answer: Sam Munson

Baker presented himself as a photographer and gained access to Confederate military secrets. Unfortunately for both Baker and the Union, he was discovered and jailed. After the war, Baker admitted that he was spying for Sec. Stanton and had John Wilkes Booth's diary in his possession.

3. Confederate Lt.Gen. James Longstreet had his own field spy. What was his name?

Answer: Henry Thomas Harrison

Harrison beagan working as a scout for General Earl Van Dorn and contributed to the latter's victory at Holly Springs. He was temporarily assigned to D. H. Hill and briefly jailed by the Federals, but convinced them he was merely a civilian. Longstreet used him to provide information of Union troop movements in the Gettysburg Campaign.

The general's aide, Lt.Col. Moxley Sorrel claimed that Harrison "never brought him false information".

4. One of the most successful Union spies was "Crazy Bet", the leader of the spy ring in Richmond. What was her real name?

Answer: Elizabeth Van Lew

Van Lew was often visiting the captured Union soldiers at Libby Prison, bringing them food, clothing and writing paper. She organized several escape attempts and passed Confederate military secrets to the Union without being detected.

5. Union General Ulysses S. Grant had a field spy. What was his name?

Answer: Philip Henson

Henson pretended to be a loyal Confederate in order to gather military intelligence from Confederate generals like Leonidas Polk, John Clifford Pemberton and others and transport them to Grant.

6. What was the name of the Confederate spy that was often credited for the Rebel victory at First Manassas?

Answer: Rose O'Neal Greenhow

Greenhow was discovered by Allan Pinkerton and spent one year at Old Capitol Prison. When she was freed, she traveled abroad on a diplomatic mission for the Confederacy. On October 1, 1864, Condor, the ship that was transporting her to Richmond was detected by the Federals and sunk. Greenhow drowned.

7. George Curtis was one of the most successful Union spies. At which Confederate general's headquarters was he placed?

Answer: A.P.Hill

Curtis made his way to the Confederate capital as a contraband merchant selling gun caps, ammunition, and the much needed quinine. The day after reaching Virginia he was taken to the Confederate lines and to an audience with Major General A. P. Hill. General Hill asked Curtis if he would carry some dispatches as well. Curtis gladly agreed to carry out his request.

He was never suspected and never arrested.

8. He was a Confederate privateer who raided the Great Lakes and had learned his tactics from John Hunt Morgan. Who was he?

Answer: John Yates Beall

Beall was born on 1835 in what's today West Virginia. When the war started, he joined Bott's Grays, also known as Company G, 2nd Va Infantry. A wound in the lungs left him incapacipated for enough time. Then he created a small privateer fleet and operated in the Great Lakes for months before his capture. Nearly 100 members of Congress protested his execution, but nobody intervened and Beall was hanged.

9. She was born Harriet Wood. She is mostly known by her stage name. She began har actions in Kentucky. Who was she?

Answer: Pauline Cushman

Cushman was in Louisville, Kentucky when she began her career. She pretended to be pro-Confederate in oreder to gather military secrets, hide them and pass them to Union generals. Although she was discovered and captured by General Braxton Bragg, she managed to escape. For her efforts and relentless work, she was promoted to major by Abraham Lincoln himself.

10. He was 17-years-old. He was found without a pass in Union-controlled territory of Arkansas and hanged as a spy. Who was he?

Answer: David Owen Dodd

On December 29, 1863, Dodd was stopped by a Union sentry in west Little Rock, near Ten Mile House on Stagecoach Road, and was discovered to be without a pass. For identification, he showed his small leather notebook, where Union soldiers found his birth certificate and a page with dots and dashes.

A Union officer was able to read some of the Morse code messages, which contained information about Union troop strength and locations in Little Rock; Dodd was arrested, convicted and hanged. He has been nicknamed the "Boy Martyr of the Confederacy".

Source: Author DeepHistory

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Although there is not much talk about them, both Confederate and Union spies played an important role at the Civil War. How much do you know about them?

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